Like the way Tacoma tastes? Buy it in a bottle

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

Courtesy Wiki Media

TACOMA — Some people complain about the musty, paper mill smell that often hangs above Tacoma.

But the taste of Tacoma? Well, it’s so good it will soon be for sale.

Officials announced that a California-based water bottling company planned to develop a $50 million, 311,000-square-foot plant that would bottle Tacoma’s drinking water for sale across the U.S., the Tacoma News Tribune reported Wednesday.

Niagara Bottling LLC plans to build a plant on 18 acres slated to open early next year once approval comes from Tacoma’s Public Utilities and the Tacoma City Council. The company plans to bottle city water, purchasing approximately 7.9 million gallons of water per month from Tacoma Public Utilities.

Niagara sells its own brand bottled water and privately labeled water for big retail chains.

The plant is expected to provide 36 jobs, the News Tribune reported. And officials told the News Tribune the introduction of the bottling facility will actually lower the cost of water for other customers.

“(We have) got a lot of extra water,” Tacoma Public Utilities Spokeswoman Chris Gleason told the News Tribune. “If we don’t sell this water, it’s just going to sit in a pipe. Eventually, this will help lower the price for everyone. It won’t be immediate, but over time, yes.”

Once the plant opens, Niagara would become the third-largest buyer of water, with Tacoma Kraft and the City of Fife expected to consume more, the News Tribune reported.

Niagara operates 12 bottling plants in nine states across the U.S. The planned plant would be the first Niagara plant in Washington.